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POLITICS
GEORGIA TODAY
SEPTEMBER 1 - 4, 2017
Those Involved in Fire Fighting to Receive Bonuses BY NINO GUGUNISHVILI
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he Prime Minister of Georgia, Giorgi Kvirikashvili, has asked the Minister of Finance, Dimitry Kumsishvili, to arrange financial bonuses for the employees of the various structures involved in the recent firefighting operations. “All those who were involved in extinguishing the fires need to be encouraged for their work,” he said. The PM also said that systematic changes are needed and infrastructure equipment needs to be renovated, alongside a systematization of the Crisis Council. “As soon as the Abastumani fire is fully
extinguished, work will begin to allocate resources from the state budget both for this year and the next,” the PM said, going on to underline that systematic changes are needed in order for the country to have a higher level of readiness for challenges such as those encountered this month. The Prime Minister said that approximately 200 hectares of forest have been burned in the recent fires, but emphasized that the precise area of damaged forest is still being checked. “We will definitely restore the forestit’s our responsibility,” Kvirikashvili said, pointing to the necessity of a joint effort with Georgian citizens. The Prime Minister went on to once again express his gratitude to all the countries that helped Georgia in the firefighting operations.
Georgia Selects New Candidates for Strasburg Court BY THEA MORRISON
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he Georgian government has selected two new candidates from the four shortlisted for the position of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) candidate judges from Georgia. Georgia’s Ministry of Justice reports that Deputy Head of the Court, Lali Papiashvili, and a judge of the Court of Appeals and former judge of the Constitutional Court, Otar Sichinava, were picked from the candidates. Together with the previously selected Lado Chanturia, all three candidates will be presented to the Council of the ECHR, and, if approved, the European Court
will choose one to become the Strasburg Court Judge from Georgia. Lali Papiashvili and Otar Sichinava, along with the other two candidates, were selected by a special commission from a list of 28 applicants. The decision came after the ECHR; for various reasons, twice rejected Georgian candidates, forcing the special governmental commission to announce an opening for the third time. NGOs refused to participate in the selection process of judges, saying the process was neither transparent nor impartial enough. The NGOs released a statement saying they would not take part in the work of the special commission headed by the Justice Ministry, and calling on the Georgian government to change the rules and procedures for forming the commission.
3rd Chaglar School Shut Down, Parents & Pupils React Continued from page 1
Demirel denies any connection to Gülen or his alleged organization. “It is vital to speak the language of the country you live in,” Çabuk told GEORGIA TODAY in an exclusive interview last year, “and the schools are making every effort to make sure the Turkish families coming to Georgia have that opportunity". Of the 320 students studying at Skhivi Lyceum in 2016, a partner school of Pri-
The closure is seen by some as a continuation of Turkey’s efforts to shut down schools associated with Gülen
vate Demirel College, 250 were Georgian and 70 Turkish. The number of nonGeorgians has since decreased. Strictly following the rules of the Georgian National Curriculum, Skhivi is said to pay close attention to teaching the Georgian language, increasing it from a regular five hours to nine in the first and second grades and to eight hours in the third and fourth grades. It has been reported that Demirel College had its authorization revoked due to necessary standards not being met. “The State Commission, which either grants or refuses authorization, acts according to Georgian legislation,” Gia Murgulia, Authorization Council Deputy at the National Center for Education Equality Enhancement, told Imedi TV on Wednesday. He went on to claim that Authorization Council members are not motivated for any school to be closed down, but that violations had been found in the study process at Demirel, and that "not every pupil was registered in the school". Bm.ge (buisnesscontact.ge) reports that, according to information they received from the National Center for Education Equality Enhancement, Demirel had "problems with infrastructure, resources and staff, with Turkish teachers employed on programs that needed to be taught in the Georgian language".
"I feel really sad now because of what happened to our school," Gvantsa, an 8th grader at Demirel, told GEORGIA TODAY. "To me, that school was everything. Everything was great until the day they closed it and I don't think they'll do anything to change their stance or that they'll listen to people's opinions on why they shouldn't close it. Every student in Demirel was my close friend. They're all really bright. I still can't believe they had to do this to us". Gvantsa moved to the Skhivi school, Tbilisi, from the Shahin Lyceum in Batumi, also part of the Chaglar group of schools and which had its license revoked by Georgia’s Ministry of Education early this year after the Turkish Consul in Batumi claimed that the school was “raising terrorists”. She then moved to Demirel. Other schools under the umbrella of the firm Chaglar Educational Institutions, aside from Demirel, are: Lyceum Skhivi, Marneuli David Agmashenebeli School (at which all 146 pupils are Azerbaijani), Kutaisi Niko Nikoladze School, and the Rustavi Rustaveli School. All are partners of Demirel, owned by it. Chaglar Nikoloz Tsereteli International School of Tbilisi (CIS), also part of the original seven Chaglar Educational Institutions, was closed last year. The Demirel pupil's parents point out
that the closure of Private Demirel College comes late for the 500 pupils who will have to register at new schools before the start of term. Some of the pupils plan to transfer to the partner school Skhivi, however, many of them fear that Skhivi will be next on the "political list" for shut down. The Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) reports that the head of the Public Relations Department at the Ministry of Education of Georgia, Nata Asatiani, announced that the former Demirel College students and teachers will be transferred to different educational institutions. According to GPB, the College administration admits that there were certain flaws, but they were not given enough time to deal with them and the school authorization was cancelled without warning. “Demirel College had violations, but at the same time it had very good pupils and very competent teachers," Asatiani told GPB. "We will do our best to make the process of their transferal to other schools as painless as possible. We’re negotiating with several schools which have expressed their readiness to receive pupils and teachers from Demirel College. The results will be made public shortly”. Parents of Private Demirel College pupils met with Tamar Sanikidze, Head of the National Center for Education Equality
Violations were found in the study process at Demirel Enhancement. "They have questions and I’ll try to answer them,” Sanikidze told Rustavi 2 prior to the meeting. "The authorization council members have high competence and everything was done according to the educational standards. There was no political influence or intervention regarding the issue," she added. Gvantsa Lomaia, Lawyer from the Tolerance and Diversity and Institute, says that the scenarios in Shahin School and Demirel College appear similar: both being now closed with their authorization cancelled without notice. Parents are planning a protest on September 5. Keep up-to-date with this story on georgiatoday.ge.